Coal-silo



Patented Oct. 7, 1919.

T. B. ADAMS.

COAL SILO.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. s. 1919.

UNETED THOMAS B. ADAMS, 01* QUINCY, ILLINOIS.

COAL-S1110.

Application filed February 3, 1919.

skilled in the art to which it appert-ains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to coal silos such as are used for storing coal.

A coal silo consists of a relatively tall or high cylindrical structure formed of concrete and provided at its upper end with an opening through which the coal is introduced into the silo. The height and diameter of coal silos vary, but if the silo is designed to hold approximately two hundred and fifty tons of coal it is the usual practice to make it approximately thirty feet high and approximately eighteen feet in diameter. The coal is elevated on the outside of the silo and introduced into the opening at the upper end of same, and in order to break the fall of the coal while it is passing downwardly through the silo, it has heretofore been the usual practice to equip the silo with a coal ladder" composed of a plurality of staggered deflectors or shelves arranged on the inside of the silo in such a manner that the coal will drop from one deflector or shell onto the one beneath same, and thus travel downwardly progressively. The deflectors or shelves have to be formed of hard wood planks on account of the severe shocks to which they are subjected when sized lump soft coal is being stored in. the. silo and even when the deflectors are formed from two inch oak planks, it is necessary to replace them frequently, as the shocks and abrasion to which they are subiectcd by the falling coal causes them to wear out rapidly. While the shelves or deflectors tbove retel-red to prevent he coal from being broken as badly as would occur it it were allowed to drop directly from the top of the silo, still there is considerable breakage of the coal on account of the fact that the coal tails iron and thus shocks or 950 ton about ii Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Get. '7, 1919.

Serial No. 274,776.

vide a coal silo which is so constructed that the coal introduced into same will travel downwardly through the silo without being subjected to a number of independent shocks or jars, thereby materially reducing the percentage of breakage of the coal over coal silos of the kind now in general use.

Another object is to provide a coal silo which is so constructed that it is not necessary to continually repair or renew the means that governs or controls the movement of the coal downwardly through the silo.

And still another object is to provide a coal silo in which the means that governs the movement of the coal downwardly into the silo can be built at a much lower cost than the coal ladders or deflecting shelves, heretofore used in coal silos.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a vertical sectional view of a coal silo constructed in accordance with my invention, the spiral conveyer on the side wall of the silo being shown in elevation.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the silo; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view,taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate the preferred form of my invention, A designates the side wall of the silo which is of cylindrical form. preferably constructed of concrete and of anv preferred dimensions, usually, however, about thirty feet in height and eighteen feet in diameter for a silo of 250 tons capacity. An inclined conveyer extends spirally around the wall of the silo from the u per end or: same to a point in proximity to the bottom of the silo. as shown in 1., the upper end of the silo being open so that the coal which is elevated on the outside or the silo by any suitable means can be dumped onto upper of the conve The conveyer B is relatively na: 'ow, as compared to the diameter of the s lt-q ant. is so constructed that the coal ding down same will disc e laterally from the co veyer onto the is of coal ii l 1e silo. T is accoinpl' .ed by inal'i 1e conveyor i in iiziliSlt"B cross S681. omitting rest.

its upper end. The coal that is deposited on the upper end of the conveyer B slides downwardly on same until it reaches the coal that has previously been introduced into the silo. The coal on the conveyer then escapes laterally from the conveyer toward the center of the silo. There is little liability of the coal escaping from the conveyer before it"reaches the pile of coal resting on the bottom of the silo, because centrifugal force tends to move the sliding coal outwardly toward the side wall of the silo. The pitch and width of the conveyer B are immaterial, but in practice I make the conveyer about twenty-four inches wide and give it suflicient pitch to insure the coal sliding down same gradually, as I have found that a conveyer of this particular design will conduct large lump soft coal downwardly into the silo with minimum breakage; the coal sliding down the conveyer easily without being subjected to shock or jar until it comes to its final position of A vertical flange or wear strip B is preferably arranged at the outer edge or the conveyer, so as to protect the side wall of the silo from abrasion. The conveyer B can be formed of any suitable ma terial and it can be mounted or supported in any suitable manner without departing from the spirit of my invention. I prefer to mount it on wooden brackets C that project from the side wall of the silo toward the center of the silo and which are secured to said wall by expansion bolts 1. The con veyer B can be conveniently formed from strips 2 of yellow pine, one inch by two inches in cross-sectional dimensions, arranged edgewise and secured to the brackets C and to each other by nails or other suitable fastening devices, so as to form a laminated structure that is strong and easy to instal, owing to the fact that the strips 2 constituting same can be easily bent spirally around the side wall of the silo. The flange or wear plate B 'at the outer edge of the conveyer is also preferably formed from superimposed strips 3 of wood bent spirally and connected to each other by nails.

The cost of constructing the conveyer B and the supporting structure on which it is mounted is considerably less than the cost of constructing a coal ladder of the kind heretofore used in coal silos, owingto the fact that said conveyer can be built from thin strips of yellow pine which are mounted on wooden brackets that are secured to the side wall. of the silo by expansion bolts. Furthermore, such a conveyer can be used indefinitely without repair or replacement, as it is not subjected to shocks or jars from the coal that travels over same. The principal advantage of my improved coal silo,

however, over a silo of the kind that is equipped with a coal ladder or series of deflecting shelves, is that it enables lump soft coal to be introduced into same with a very slight percentage of breakage. In fact, with a silo of the construction above described, designed to hold 250 tons of lump soft coal, the amount of screenings rarely exceeds eighteen to twenty tons, whereas, with a silo equipped with a coal ladder, the amount of screenings in a 250 ton silo is usually in the neighborhood of fifty tons.

It will thus be seen that a saving of from $85.00 to $40.00 is effected each time the silo is filled, due to the fact that only eighteen or twenty tons, instead of fifty tons, have to be sold as screenings which sell for $1.25 per ton less than lump coal.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A silo for storing coal consisting of a relatively tall cylindrical structure adapted to have coal introduced into the upper end of same, and-means for filling said silo with coal without subjecting the coal to numerous shocks and jars consisting of a spiral conveyer arranged on the inner side of the cylindrical wall of said structure at some distance from the vertical axis of the silo and constructed in such a manner that the coal will discharge from said conveyer automatically when it reaches the pile of coal resting on the bottom of the silo.

THOMAS E. ADAMS. 

